President Donald Trump attacked Fox News and demanded the election be rerun in an early morning tweet storm that featured voter fraud allegations from actor Randy Quaid in a starring role.
Trump, in the nearly dozen tweets and retweets fired off Tuesday morning, appeared to be backpedaling from Monday evening’s decision by the General Services Administration to allow the transition process to begin, giving President-elect Joe Biden and his team access to the federal government to begin the transfer of power.
Trump tweeted his blessing of the move, which many interpreted as a concession to Biden’s win – or as close as a concession as the president would get.
But the president was singing a different tune on Tuesday, vowing to keep up the fight so he could remain in the White House.
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‘I concede NOTHING!!!!!,’ the president declared in one retweet that featured a photo of himself standing in the Oval Office next to the resolute desk.
He also tweeted a series of bizarre videos from Quaid, who issued a call of arms to conservatives. ‘Our day of reckoning is nigh. Wake up!’ the actor said.
But the president’s case for victory was dealt a severe blow on Tuesday when Pennsylvania certified its 20 electoral votes for Biden.
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The president’s legal team was fighting the certification in court but Governor Tom Wolfe, a Democrat, tweeted that he ‘signed the Certificate of Ascertainment for the slate of electors for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ as required by law.
Trump had touted a ‘big lawsuit’ that would reveal a great deal of voter fraud, although he offered on specifics or evidence of his claim.
‘Our big lawsuit, which spells out in great detail all of the ballot fraud and more, will soon be filled. RIGGED ELECTION!,‘ Trump wrote in a tweet flagged by Twitter as disputed.
It’s unclear what legal case the president is referring to but the Third Circuit Court of Appeals has granted his campaign’s request for an expedited review of a lower court’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit over voting in Pennsylvania. A judge in the state threw out the Trump campaign’s attempt to seek a legal injunction to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s win there and the president’s legal team is appealing.
But Wolf’s certification dealt a huge blow to the Trump team.
As part of his arguments, he was the winner in November, Trump also retweeted five tweets from actor Randy Quaid, the disgraced actor who once sought asylum in Canada as he fled legal challenges in California.
Quaid sent out his own series of tweets alleging election fraud – also flagged by Twitter for having disputed information – and full of praise for President Trump.
The actor also posted a two-minute video rant about the election.
‘Is this the way America goes: from George Washington to George Soros?,‘ he said, touting a conspiracy theory that Soros, a wealthy Jewish financier, pulls the strings in American bureaucracy.
‘Ring out you bells of freedom, sound out across the land,’ Quaid said in his call to arms. ‘Our day of reckoning is nigh. Wake up!’
And he wrote on Twitter: ‘Never underestimate The greatest President this country has ever had. Trump is an astonishing man of the people, fighting for all of us.’
Trump replied: ‘Thank you Randy, working hard to clean up the stench of the 2020 Election Hoax!’
Trump also retweeted Quaid’s call for an ‘in-person-only-paper ballot re-vote.’
Quaid wrote: ‘We’ve lost confidence in the system that elects our leaders. 79 million Americans believe election was rigged, the results fraudulent. We need an in-person-only-paper ballot re-vote, especially in the States where flagrant irregularities have occurred. No accuracy, no democracy!’
‘Are you listening Republicans?’ the president demanded with his retweet.
It’s highly unlikely Republicans would agree to another election – a move that would be unprecedented in American history. A hand recount in Georgia certified Biden’s win there and several states have begun the certification process that will formally give Biden the 306 electoral votes he won.
The president also displayed his continuing anger with Fox News, which was the first news organization to call Arizona for Biden – a decision that enraged Trump.
The president retweeted Quaid’s praise for two small conservative television networks: ‘TIME TO MAKE OAN & NEWSMAX RICH. FOX IS DEAD TO ME!’
Quaid’s tweet also included a video message.
‘They forgot what made them successful,’ Quaid said of Fox in an eerie video filmed as a closeup of his face with light flickering across his features. ‘They forgot the golden goose.’
Trump’s doubling down comes after GSA Chief Emily Murphy sent Biden a letter on Monday night, writing that the transition process could formally begin.
Murphy released a letter to Biden announcing the move but dedicated a considerable portion to defending her own reputation and claiming she had been threatened and harassed.
Her letter, notably, does not go so far as ‘ascertain’ that Joe Biden is the winner of the election, despite networks calling the race 16 days ago, numerous states certifying their tallies, and Biden winning 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232. She also called him ‘Mr.’ instead of the president-elect or vice president.
It came just over an hour after Michigan certified that Biden had won the state, putting another nail in the coffin of Trump’s bid to overturn the election result.
The move ends much of the controversy over Trump’s refusal to concede and means that a concession would be purely symbolic.
It allows Biden to get the same intelligence briefing as Trump, order FBI background checks on his picks for office, and talk to senior officials in key roles – most notably, Dr. Tony Fauci.
The Biden-Harris transition team last night welcomed Murphy’s letter, saying it was a ‘needed step to begin tackling the challenges facing our nation’.
‘In the days ahead, transition officials will begin meeting with federal officials to discuss the pandemic response’ as well as national security issues, said Biden aide Yohannes Abraham.
But Trump tweeted later on Monday saying he had ordered Murphy to start the transition ‘for the sake of the country’ and claimed he was sure he would win ‘the good fight.’
